IntroductionFedEx was founded by Fred Smith after his tour in Vietnam, and he continues to run the company today, as the only CEO that FedEx has ever known. The company began by offering overnight courier services, an industry that to that point had not existed. Today, that unit is known as FedEx Express and it is still the largest in the company. There are competitors, however, mostly notably UPS, DHL and TNT. In most Western markets, the industry is relatively concentrated, with these companies and a few local competitors (such as Purolator in Canada) dominating the business. In the developing world, there may be more competitors and the industry less concentrated. FedEx remains a strong competitor in the overnight delivery industry. Today, industry growth is concentrated on emerging markets. As such, most of the notable moves from FedEx Express have related to these markets. Recent moves in China for example have included opening a third station in Suzhou, a wealthy and historic city near Shanghai (Berman, 2011) and opening its largest operations station in the country last month in the Pudong area of Shanghai (Lopez, 2011).

FedEx is expanding in India, having made a major acquisition there this year of AFL and Unifreight India (FedEx, 2011). The company is also launching a new service in India to help it capture a larger share of that growing market (Ashby, 2011). The company is also expanding in Brazil and the Southern Cone region of South America including Argentina and Chile (FedEx, 2007). These expansions, as well as those in Europe, point to the company’s commitment to not only take advantage of the opportunities presented by globalization, but to spur further globalization by providing better market access between expanding economies and mature ones.

FedEx Express IndustryThe global courier market is expanding, in large part due to the long-run trend of globalization. Technology has aided in the boom, as FedEx has benefited from increased sending of documents and of items purchased on the Internet. Some of the company’s major customers, from Apple Computer to semiconductor manufacturers in the Philippines, are information technology firms. FedEx has been gaining market share in the US in recent years, in particular after DHL exited the market. The company gained market share in 2009, for example, despite a decline in revenue (Reuters, 2009). The company is currently adding aircraft capacity in the form of Boeing 777s in order to help it expand its international presence. Recent aircraft purchases have been earmarked for Shanghai, Hong Kong, Osaka, Shenzhen, London, Seoul, Dubai and Delhi (Jackman, 2011).

The industry is characterized by oligopoly conditions on the global level, with only four worldwide carriers. There are numerous minor and local carriers that also provide competition. Economies of both scale and scope are key drivers of business. Economies of scale allow the company to have a lower per unit (package or kilogram) cost. Economies of scope allow FedEx to deliver a higher level of service than its competitors. In particular, being able to operate stations in areas where competitors cannot do so profitably gives FedEx a significant competitive advantage. In addition, high volume levels allow FedEx to offer better service. A good example of this would be Shenzhen. Because FedEx is able to fly a 777 nonstop from Shenzhen to Memphis, it can leave two hours later than competitor planes – competitors may have to run a shuttle plane to Hong Kong before beginning their trans-Pacific journey. As a result of this, manufacturers are able to get an additional two hours of work on a given work day (Jackman, 2011). This improves the bottom line of the FedEx customers, something that helps it to improve market share.

On the cost side, fuel costs are the single biggest cost component for FedEx, followed closely by labor. A third...

YOU MAY ALSO FIND THESE DOCUMENTS HELPFUL

...﻿ Malcolm X U.S. Black-Rights Activist and Religious Leader
As well all know we are in the month of February. February is the month of love and the month to celebrate black history. Today I am going to talk about the one and only Malcolm X. I asked many people who they thought Malcolm X was and none of them knew. They were saying that he was a boxer, a black dude, or a random guy who was celebrated. But little did they know that he was kind of...

...to their deaths. The words spoken by Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were so strong and influential, helping them gain great audiences and followers. King preached out over the “brotherhood” among races, and the importance of non-violence. Malcolm X, also advocated for the end to segregation, but emphasized the needs for blacks to become independent of the white man, and stand up for themselves. Both King and Malcolm X had similar goals in their...

...renamed himself Malcolm X in keeping with Elijah Muhammad's belief that American blacks should give up their "slave names." The "X", he said, "Replaces the white slave-master name imposed upon my paternal forebears by some blue-eyed devil." (203)
Malcolm X believed that integration wasn’t the answer to American Negro’s problems. He believed that “no sane black man really wants integration! No sane white man really wants integration!” (250) It is...

...Individual History Essay
"To what extent did Malcolm X play a positive role in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and the 1960s in America?"
Word Count: 1923 words
To a limited extent Malcolm X played a positive role in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s in America. Malcolm X was an African-American Muslim minister, leader and human rights activist. During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s Malcolm...

...Malcolm X
Malcolm Little was born on May 19, 1925; he was the son of Louise and Earl Little of Omaha, Nebraska. He was a very good student. Before dropping out in the 8th grade, and was even voted class president. After the death of his father at the hand of Klansmen and the infirming of his mother to a mental institution, he moved to Boston. Malcolm got a job as a shoeshine boy, but quickly decided dealing drugs was a much easier way to make money. He eventually moved to New...

...﻿Malcolm X
How is it that a man who was completely illiterate, a criminal and even worse he was black, in a time that meant you were less than a dog, could go on to lead a nation of black people towards freedom? Malcolm X is the classical story of tenacity, adversity, and determination and his end result was triumph. To Malcolm X reading was the most important thing in the world to him, and no matter how hard it would be he wanted nothing more than...

...Political ideology and readings on the xfactor
Hello I’m sure you have heard of the X factor? One of britians most watched tv programmes. Perhaps one of your relatives was on it? Who knows. But did you ever wonder what the xfactor is really about? Apart from knowing it’s a ‘luck shot’ show…well im going to be telling you the different theories related to x factor in this essay. You will be surprised.
Firstly we all watch x factor for our own...

...Generation X, commonly abbreviated to Gen X, is the generation born after the Western post–World War II baby boom ended.[1] While there is no universally agreed upon time frame,[2] the term generally includes people born from the early 1960s through the early 1980s, usually no later than 1981 or 1982.[3][4][5][6][7] The term had also been used in different times and places for various subcultures or countercultures since the 1950s.[8]
Generation X:...